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| Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia | |
| Putin offers staggering sum for new recruits as Russia desperate to bolster shriveling forces | |
| 2023-11-18 | |
| [FoxNews] Moscow is trying to bribe its citizens into signing up to serve in the military as Russian President Vladimir Putin watches his forces continue to shrivel up in Ukraine the longer the conflict lasts. "Putin has launched a full-on recruitment drive," Rebekah Koffler, a strategic military intelligence analyst and the author of "Putin’s Playbook," told Fox News Digital. An analysis from The Atlantic Council found that Russian armed forces have turned to the civilian population to help fundraise for additional equipment, including drones, thermal sights, vehicles and medicine, through a group called "All for Victory," run by propagandist Vladimir Solovyov. The most surprising initiative Russian officials have pursued involves a 1 million ruble payment (around $11,000) for anyone who signs up for the "elite division." Several pro-military accounts on Telegram amplified the initiative. The Atlantic Council noted that this followed an earlier initiative that tried to hire contractors for around 600,000 rubles (around $6,600) in October. "Every Russian newspaper, from Izvestia to Moscow Young Communist, is carrying an announcement about an ‘elite combat division’ of contract soldiers being recruited for the special military operation," Koffler said. Koffler argued that "Putin is almost certainly preparing for what likely will be a very long conflict in Ukraine" with what amounts to "effectively" a "covert mobilization." The U.K. Ministry of Defense said last month the number of Russia's total "permanent" casualties — which includes those discharged due to injury — is as high as 150,000 to 190,000 since the conflict began, with total wounded taking the number to just under 300,000, not including the Wagner Group and "prisoner battalions" that fought in Bakhmut. The ministry in February more specifically cited a figure of 40,000 to 60,000 dead. "Idite Lesom," an anti-war initiative in the country of Georgia that seeks to help Russians dodge the military draft, reported on its Telegram channel that potential recruits in several regions, including Tatarstan, Bashkortostan and the city of Irkutsk, have received text messages advertising "contract services." Russia over the summer tried to lure troops from neighboring Kazakhstan, a former Soviet republic, with payments of over 450,000 rubles (around $5,000) offered as pop-up adds on the internet, Reuters reported. Despite Kazakhstan calling for peace and not backing Russia’s invasion, the ads urged Kazakhs to stand "shoulder to shoulder" and join the Russian military, which would provide an additional monthly salary of at least 190,000 rubles (around $2,000) a month and "undisclosed benefits." Koffler revealed that some of these benefits include: 50% compensation for rent, including "complete renovations"; free transportation; psychological assistance; free college education; vacation time, to be used at their discretion; free gasoline; and "so on."
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| Posted by:Skidmark |